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LMU93
I think what you're saying about Whitworth, Sullivan and Saffold is true. Whitworth was the single best position upgrade (going from Robinson) in the entire league in 2017. Sullivan was a steadying influence that was solid yet unspectacular. Saffold went from good to great to LG.
On Havenstein, my view of him is he always had trouble with upper tier, speed EDGE guys. But...overall in 3 of his first 4 years he was good. Solidly above average in my opinion. Apparently the Rams coaches have confidence he can return to form (or at worst they are willing to have a pretty expensive 6th man).
I think every good OL is greater than the sum of its parts. I'm in the camp that thought Blythe did well at center the final 7 games and is a steadying influence there. And I'm high on Edwards and Evans going into year two. Corbett did better in his 7 starts than I anticipated but I'd rather have him as the 6th man than starting. What's essential is Whitworth not declining further which isn't guaranteed.
I don't expect a top-5 OL. Or top-10. But also don't expect a bottom 5-10 unit either. And really, if they're somewhere in the middle (15th-ish) that just might be good enough.
I also really like Anchrum's long-term potential at RG.
Its true that Hav was exposed against top tier edge guys even in 2018. Its debatable if he is solidly above average, but not out of the question. What's not debatable is that he was bad last year for whatever reason. Will he bounce back this year? Thats not a sure thing.
Thats the kind of the issue across the board. No sure things. Whitworth isn't a sure thing not to show that he too old, Blythe is not a sure thing to show that he will not get abused at Center, Corbett is not a sure thing to show that Cleveland made a mistake dumping a high draft pick. We also don't know for sure how Edwards and Evans will do this year, will they step it up? No sure thing.
In a nutshell, the entire OL is no sure thing and there isn't much top tier talent there to begin with. Sure, its a synergy thing, sum of the parts and all that, but we aren't talking about OL talent like most top teams invest in with drop back QBs.
~ max ~
“The consciousness of good intentions disdains ambiguity.” - Alexander Hamilton